Turkey celebrates canonisation of Pope John XXIII

Mgr Angelo Roncalli

The people of Turkey have many happy memories of Pope John XXIII. Dominican Father, Giuseppe Gandolfo said: "Angelo Roncalli loved this country. He was apostolic Delegate in Turkey from 1935 to 1944 and his sentence 'I love the Turks' has been carved in the historical memory of the Turkish people".

A series of initiatives and events will be held in Istanbul on the occasion of his canonization. On Sunday, April 27, in conjunction with St Peter's Basilica, the solemn liturgy of canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II - will be broadcast with simultaneous translation in Turkish in the crypt of St Anthony church, not far from Taksim Square.

The canonization Mass celebrated by Pope Francis will also be broadcast live across the country. The day of the canonization will conclude with a concert by the choir of the State University of the Bosphorus housed in the Latin Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.

The new initiatives inspired by the figure of the holy Pope will continue throughout 2014. On 4 May, a lecture by Professor Rinaldo Marmara - author of historical research on the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul - will inaugurate a photo exhibition on Angelo Roncalli set up in the areas annexed to St. Anthony church. While on 6 June the Roncallian symposium 'Between Memory and Prophecy' will be attended by academics and Turkish politicians and the director of the John XXIII Foundation, Don Ezio Bolis.

The concluding ceremony of the Turkish celebrations for St. John XXIII is scheduled for November 16 at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, with an invitation extended to the Patriarchs and heads of other Christian communities in Turkey, starting from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

Source: Fides